Sedgley Wolf
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Just finished reading 'On the Road' by Jack Kerouac again - one of the few books I've read a second time, an autobiographical account of the author's trips across post-war America in his youth.
The manner in which it was written is probably as famous as the story itself, and something that I find incredible. Kerouac was struggling to find a method to chronicle his adventures several years later and, after quite a lot of frustration, he lost his patience, taped together a huge scroll of drawing paper and furiously started typing and typing....and typing. He later said he did this to achieve the 'kick-writing' momentum he wanted as he was convinced that his verbal flow was hampered when he had to change paper at the end of the page.
Fuelled by amphetemines, he banged away at the type-writer pretty much non-stop for 17 days until he was finished, the words flowing from him straight onto the scroll; no drafts, nothing. His girlfriend of the time told of him hanging damp t-shirts across his apartment because of him sweating so profusely.
Picture of the 120ft scroll;
The result of all that really is a remarkable piece of literature and probably the definitive account of the 'Beat' culture that hit America in the 40s/50s. Its his vivid narrative that brings to life these journeys and the tales of the sex, drugs and hedonism led by chief protagonist Neal Cassady (or Dean Moriarty depending on which version you read) that shocked so many people when it was released.
Well worth a read.
The manner in which it was written is probably as famous as the story itself, and something that I find incredible. Kerouac was struggling to find a method to chronicle his adventures several years later and, after quite a lot of frustration, he lost his patience, taped together a huge scroll of drawing paper and furiously started typing and typing....and typing. He later said he did this to achieve the 'kick-writing' momentum he wanted as he was convinced that his verbal flow was hampered when he had to change paper at the end of the page.
Fuelled by amphetemines, he banged away at the type-writer pretty much non-stop for 17 days until he was finished, the words flowing from him straight onto the scroll; no drafts, nothing. His girlfriend of the time told of him hanging damp t-shirts across his apartment because of him sweating so profusely.
Picture of the 120ft scroll;
The result of all that really is a remarkable piece of literature and probably the definitive account of the 'Beat' culture that hit America in the 40s/50s. Its his vivid narrative that brings to life these journeys and the tales of the sex, drugs and hedonism led by chief protagonist Neal Cassady (or Dean Moriarty depending on which version you read) that shocked so many people when it was released.
Well worth a read.
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